As I wrote about last week, DC Comics has, in conjunction with Warner Bros., finally pulled the trigger on a plan to build an interconnected superhero movie universe akin to their Marvel/Disney rivals. Their plan is to make a Batman-Superman team-up movie (tentatively titled “Batman vs. Superman,” which makes me want to hurl), followed by a movie about The Flash before pulling it all together for a Justice League movie, DC’s equivalent of 2012′s ultra-smash hit “The Avengers.”

“The Avengers,” of course, made eleventy billion dollars, so it’s easy to see why DC and Warner Bros. are going forward with this plan. They want some of that money for themselves, and that’s fine. “The Avengers,” in addition to making money hand-over-fist for Disney, also was a really good comics adaptation and a good movie in general. But what made Marvel’s sprawling experiment in transporting comics continuity to movie screens work was their willingness to take a risk and embrace the weirdness of a lot of the source material they were working with.

Think for a moment about how insane Disney was to embark on this project. “Thor” is a movie about Norse gods traveling across the cosmos battling frost giants and such, while “Captain America” is a World War II war epic featuring a hero who is the literal embodiment of old-fashioned American values. “The Avengers” had to combine all of that craziness with the techno-thriller elements of the “Iron Man” movies as well as bring in The Incredible Hulk, but it worked because it embraced it origins and perfectly captured the sense of adolescent joy that superhero team-ups evoke in comic books.

The cover of Wonder Woman No. 1. Courtesy of DC Comics.

Which brings us, belatedly, to Wonder Woman. If you’re going to make a Justice League movie, she has to be in it, and she should have her own movie before appearing with the Justice League. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman form the core of the Justice League, just as Iron Man, Captain America and Thor form the core of The Avengers. To give The Flash his own movie before Wonder Woman would be akin to giving Hawkeye his own movie before “The Avengers,” but not Thor. (From where I’m sitting, Batman = Iron Man, Superman = Captain America, Wonder Woman = Thor.)

The fact that Warner Bros. is unable (or, more insidiously, perhaps unwilling) to give Wonder Woman her own movie before making a Justice League movie is an artistic and moral travesty. Beyond the issues of staying true to source material and geek credibility, it’s an issue of sexism and feminism. By shutting Wonder Woman out in favor of another male hero, it casts her in a lesser light, makes her into an “also-ran” instead of one of the key players. Even though the audience for superhero movies may be overwhelmingly male, that does not mean the people who make these movies get to ignore or sideline female characters. (Joss Whedon, thank goodness, understands this and made sure to give Black Widow significant screen time and story presence in “The Avengers.”)

The cover of Wonder Woman No. 6. Courtesy of DC Comics.

Furthermore, it’s about time we had more diversity among the protagonists of our summer blockbusters. Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk are all white guys. Nick Fury is played by Samuel L. Jackson, but he’s the notable exception. Even the bad guys in these movies (The Joker, Bane, Loki, Red Skull, etc.) are all white men. Let’s give a woman a chance to shine already, huh? (In the case of DC, this failure to give women their due is undoubtedly linked to Warner Bros.’ continued reliance on Christopher Nolan and David Goyer, neither of whom is very good when it comes to female characters.)

Last, and perhaps most importantly, Wonder Woman is a fascinating character who deserves to be front-and-center in her own movie, not in the background. She’s a princess, and yet she can hit nearly as hard as Superman. She’s a woman, but she is more likely to take a life than either Batman or Superman. She fights literal gods and goddesses, and she also (like Superman before her) occasionally struggles to find her place in a world that fears her power. In the right hands, Wonder Woman’s story could make for a deeply compelling movie, and it could have all the excitement of “The Dark Knight” or “Man of Steel.”

Is a Wonder Woman movie before Justice League likely? Barring a massive outcry from fans, probably not; as mentioned, these sort of movies are aimed at male viewers, very few of whom are likely to give silly issues like “should we give our most iconic female hero her own movie before bringing another male hero to screen?” a lot of thought. But that doesn’t change the fact that Wonder Woman deserves better.

About This Blog

Rob Ryan joined The Gainesville Sun in 2010 after graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Though he graduated with a degree in journalism, he also studied film and is a longtime cinephile. Rob now spends his days soaking up all things cinema and his nights on the copy desk. His favorite movies are the original Star Wars trilogy.